Former President of India, Abdul Kalam has turned down the offer to contest against the UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Kalam turned down the requests from the BJP led NDA and the Trinamool Congress and also from the sections from the non political class.
The former president released a statement which was referred to the Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee as well as other political parties and said he had “considered the totality of the matter and the present political situation, and decided not to contest.”
There were high hopes that Mr. Kalam would enter fray for another term in Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy had made vain efforts to persuade Mr Kalam to contest.
After Kalam’s refusal, the NDA working chairman and Senior BJP leader LK Advani are working on issuing a public statement for an official announcement. The refusal from Kalam has left the already divided NDA in lurch. At present the BJP has the only option to line up behind the BJD and the AIADMK and back the former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma to contest for the President. The leaders of the BJP believe that it is a politically prudent option for a party which is on the outlook for the potential allies in the 2014 general elections.
